muck about

ふざける

まじめに振る舞わず、遊んだり冗談を言ったりする。

やさしい英語で： To play or joke instead of behaving seriously.

• We were just mucking about.
• The children mucked about and laughed on the way home.
• Please don’t muck about during the lesson.

類義語： fool around, mess around, joke around

よく使う表現： muck about together, muck about in class

だらだらする、時間を無駄にする

大したことをせず、またははっきりした目的もなく時間を過ごす。

やさしい英語で： To spend time doing little or doing things without a clear purpose.

• Stop mucking about and finish your homework.
• I mucked about in the garage all afternoon.
• We have no time to muck about today.

類義語： mess around, waste time, muck around

反対語： get on with it

よく使う表現： muck about all day, muck about outside

いじくる

仕組みをよく知らないまま機器を操作したり変えたりする。

やさしい英語で： To try changing or using equipment when you do not really know how it works.

• Don’t muck about with my computer.
• He mucked about with the settings and broke the printer.
• Have you been mucking about with the engine?

使い方： muck about with something (Don’t muck about with the heating controls.)

類義語： mess around with, tamper with, fiddle with

よく使う表現： muck about with something, muck about with controls

振り回す、無駄に待たせる

人を無駄に待たせたり約束を破ったりして、不当に扱う。

やさしい英語で： To treat someone unfairly by wasting their time or making promises you do not keep.

• Stop mucking me about.
• They mucked her about for weeks before rejecting her application.
• I won’t let another employer muck me about.

使い方： muck someone about (The company mucked us about over the delivery date.)

類義語： mess someone around, give someone the runaround

よく使う表現： muck someone about, muck customers about